Materialistic concepts of soul are no more rational than religious concepts. Discuss (500 words)
Materialism is a form of philosophical monism which holds that matter is the fundamental substance in nature, and that all phenomena, including mental phenomena, consciousness and the soul are the result of material interactions. Monists believe that the soul is not separate from the body and is a result of how the physical body works, m aterialism is closely related to physicalism; the view that all that exists is ultimately physical.
Religious beliefs of the soul e.g. those views held by Buddhists, Christians and Hindus is that the soul is separate from the body, this concept is a form of philosophical dualism, Dualism (from the Latin word duo meaning "two") The term 'dualism' indicates a system which contains two essential parts. In religious terms the physical body is separate from the intangible soul which dwells within us. The soul departs from the body when we die. One of the main issues with the concept of dualism is where the soul actually is.
Gilbert Ryle has a materialistic view. He believes that the concept of having a soul is merely a categorical mistake; he references the soul being a “ghost in the machine” and the body being the machine. For a religious believer, monism diminishes the purpose of human existence; if we do not have a soul then we are purely machines. Why would God create humans as automatons, our soul being governed by the physical world and simply buy our genetics, surely God created us as individuals, and has not left each and every one of us to chance? If the soul is one with the body then how can we get to heaven as when our bodies die, our soul dies too?
If the concept of a soul is a categorical mistake according to Ryle, then why are there thousands, if not millions of people believe in the concept of having a soul? Not having a soul undermines the fundamental purpose of morality, how can we freely choose to be moral...